The instant invention relates to apparatus for setting a tool in a well bore and more particularly to such apparatus in which the setting of the tool is accomplished with hydraulic pressure.
The instant invention can be used to set in a well bore a packer of the type having a conduit therethrough and to thereafter selectively connect and disconnect a pipe or tubing string to the packer conduit. The packer is of the type having elastomeric material disposed about the conduit and further having upper and lower slip assemblies positioned above and beneath the packing material. The conduit includes a valve having an internal sliding sleeve which is selectively movable between one position permitting fluid flow through the conduit and another position shutting off such flow.
Past setting tools have been proposed for setting such packers. One past tool includes a mandrel for insertion into the packer conduit for opening and closing the sleeve valve, an inner sleeve which supports the mandrel and connects it to the conduit string, and a screw jack device disposed between the inner sleeve and an outer setting sleeve.
In setting the above-described packer with the prior art tool, a string is made up wherein the setting tool is connected by its inner sleeve to a tubing string, a breakable tension sleeve is threadably engaged between the lower end of the inner sleeve and the upper end of the packer conduit, and the setting tool mandrel extends into the packer conduit to maintain the slidable valve in an open position while the tubing string is lowered into the well. When the desired depth for setting the packer in the casing is reached, the tubing string is rotated a predetermined number of times, which rotation operates the screw jack device, thus forcing the setting sleeve downwardly to set the upper packer slips against the sides of the bore. Tension is applied with the tubing to set the lower slips and break the tension sleeve. This leaves the packer engaged in the bore and the setting tool suspended on the tubing string thereabove. Thereafter, the mandrel may be stung into the packer conduit for actuating the valve to provide fluid communication between the tubing string and the bore beneath the packer.
Such past setting tools have proved somewhat unsatisfactory due to their mechanical complexity as well as the necessity for substantial amounts of vertical and rotational movement of the pipe or tubing string and loading of the string in order to set the packer.
Past apparatus have been proposed for setting liner hangers in which hydraulic pressure is used to effect setting. One such apparatus includes an annular collar disposed about a mandrel which is suspended from a tubing string. A ball is dropped down the tubing string to seal the string beneath the collar. A port connects the tubing string to the annulus between the collar and the mandrel and when the string is pressurized, the collar moves upwardly. Setting slips disposed on an inclined surface are suspended from the collar and upward movement along the surface urges the slip outwardly to set the hanger. Such past liner hangers are not adaptable for setting packers of the type above described and do not include a mandrel for actuation of the sliding packer valve.
The instant invention includes inner and outer sleeves telescopically interengaged and adapted to be suspended from a pipe or tubing string for lowering into a well bore. The shearable tension sleeve connects a packer of the above-described type to the lower end of the inner sleeve. A vertically shiftable mandrel is received within the inner sleeve for engaging the packer valve. Piston means are disposed between the inner and outer sleeves and between the mandrel and the inner sleeve. Pressurization of the tubing acts on the piston means to effect upward movement of the inner sleeve and of the mandrel. Such pressurization seals the top of the mandrel from the tubing string by means of a flapper valve. When the inner sleeve assumes a predetermined position with respect to the outer sleeve, pressure beneath the mandrel piston means is released thus permitting downward mandrel movement with respect to the inner sleeve. Mandrel lock means locks the mandrel to the inner sleeve to permit selective actuation of the packer valve by raising and lowering the tubing string.